If there’s one show that understands the sometimes absurd nature of luxury travel, it’s The White Lotus. I’ve been obsessed with this show since Season 1 —watching privileged, beautiful, and deeply dysfunctional people spiral into chaos at five-star resorts is my idea of top-tier entertainment.
Season 3, set in Thailand, is particularly exciting for me. I’ve traveled there many times, including to update two editions of Lonely Planet Thailand, where I covered Koh Samui and Phuket. Seeing The White Lotus filmed in places I know so well—where I’ve reviewed beachfront resorts and spent my fair share of time sipping cocktails at infinity pools—only deepens my obsession.
HBO’s Francesca Orsi recently teased Season 4 might take us back to Europe. If this is the case, it would depart from what many originally expected. When the show was renewed for a second season in Sicily, the assumption was that each installment would take place on a different continent. With the first three seasons covering North America, Europe, and now Asia, that would mean Africa, South America, or Oceania were next in line. This is the trajectory I’d like to see. Because if there’s one thing the series proves, it’s that money doesn’t buy happiness—but it does buy spectacular vacation settings for the rich to unravel.
After more than a decade covering luxury resorts and staying at some of the world’s most exclusive properties, I can confirm that high-end travel is as absurd as it is indulgent—just like The White Lotus. From safari lodges where sunset cocktails come with a side of existential dread to an Antarctic escape perfect for the ultimate luxury isolation spiral, these are the six destinations that deserve their own White Lotus moment.
Africa: Where The White Lotus would turn safari into scandal
At Cottar’s 1920s Safari Camp, I soaked in a canvas tub under the open sky—one of the most indulgent safari experiences I’ve had. A White Lotus-worthy escape if there ever was one.
Africa has always been my favorite continent to travel to. It offers some of the most varied travel experiences imaginable, from epic wildlife encounters on the plains of Kenya to the vibrant coastal energy of Cape Town. With such a rich range of landscapes and cultures, I couldn’t resist imagining the series finding its way into two of my favorite African countries.
Kenya – Cottar’s Safari’s 1920s Camp, Masai Mara
Straight out of a yesteryear explorer’s fantasy, I could see Cottar’s 1920s Camp in Kenya’s Masai Mara in a future season of The White Lotus. Cottar’s is an elegant safari lodge where time slows down and every detail oozes old-world romance. It’s the kind of place where you wake up to the sound of elephants in the distance and spend your days tracking the Big Five on private safari drives.
Guests stay in luxurious canvas tents with brass fixtures, Persian rugs, and antique writing desks that make you want to pen dramatic letters home about your life-changing safari. But the real magic happens post-game drive, when staff set up outdoor canvas bathtubs outside your tent, fill them with steaming water and bubbles, and hand you a glass of chilled champagne as the sun sets over the Mara.
Fun fact: Mike White and his father, Mel, visited Kenya during Season 14 of The Amazing Race in 2009.
South Africa – Ellerman House, Cape Town
Known for its dramatic scenery, gorgeous beaches, and glamorous resorts, Cape Town practically begs for a White Lotus storyline. The city also has a thriving LGBTQ+ scene, and the show has consistently woven intricate LGBTQ+ narratives into its storytelling—from Armond’s chaotic downward spiral in Season 1 to Quentin’s opulent but unsettling Sicilian escapades in Season 2.
Perched high above Bantry Bay, Ellerman House is what happens when European sophistication meets South African soul. It’s the kind of place where people check in for a week and end up staying indefinitely, thanks to a wine cellar stocked with 7,500 bottles, private art gallery tours, and an infinity pool overlooking the Atlantic. The setting is cinematic: a historic mansion with just 13 rooms, each with sweeping ocean views.
It’s easy to envision a future season unfolding against the backdrop of glamorous beach clubs and Michelin-starred restaurants in Cape Town. The city’s blend of wealth, beauty, and simmering tension is the perfect breeding ground for whispered betrayals, tangled relationships, and costly misunderstandings over a bottle of South African Pinotage.
Oceania: Where The White Lotus would turn paradise into a mirage
With its overwater villas, private infinity pools, and impossibly blue lagoons, Bora Bora is made for indulgence—and maybe a little White Lotus-level chaos.
I hope Mike White decides to set a season of The White Lotus in Oceania, the continent that also includes Australia. This stretch of the South Pacific is home to thousands of islands, including Bora Bora in French Polynesia, where ultra-secluded resorts feature overwater villas that hover above impossibly blue lagoons. Guests arrive by private yacht or seaplane, seeking an experience so exclusive that reality itself starts to feel like a mirage.
It’s the ultimate setting for rich couples attempting to “reconnect” (but inevitably breaking up) and solo travelers realizing that paradise isn’t always what it seems.
French Polynesia – Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora
Bora Bora is almost offensively beautiful. The kind of place where you wake up in an overwater bungalow, slide open your glass doors, and step directly into the warm, impossibly blue lagoon. Mount Otemanu rises dramatically in the background, making every moment look like a scene from a dream.
The Four Seasons brand is a White Lotus staple, so it’s easy to envision the Four Seasons Bora Bora as the resort. Every detail is dialed to perfection—from the discreet personal butlers to the overwater spa bungalows where you can get a massage while staring down at tropical fish swimming beneath you.
It’s easy to picture Portia (Season 2) here, trying to convince herself that she’s finally found peace, only to realize she’s trapped on yet another stunning island with yet another fabulously dysfunctional boss (RIP Tanya) and an emotionally unavailable man.
Australia: The perfect setting for The White Lotus’ most isolated scandals
The Whitsundays offer ultra-exclusive resorts, private yachts, and stunning seclusion—ideal for a luxury escape or the next White Lotus disaster.
Australia offers some of the world’s most breathtaking and remote luxury resorts—places where high-profile guests disappear into five-star sanctuaries surrounded by stunning natural landscapes.
If the show ever landed in Australia, it wouldn’t be in Sydney—it would be somewhere isolated, where the remoteness only adds to the tension. Qualia, a hyper-exclusive resort in the Whitsundays, fits the bill.
Qualia – Hamilton Island
Hidden on the northern tip of Hamilton Island, Qualia is an adults’-only, ultra-private, and accessible by helicopter. Think plunge pools overlooking the Coral Sea, a private beach, and a level of discretion that makes it perfect for high-profile guests who may or may not be on the run from something.
If a future season of The White Lotus were set here, I’d expect backstabbing corporate elites, a honeymoon that goes terribly wrong, and a guest who disappears on a sailing trip—never to be seen again.
South America: Where The White Lotus would drench old-world glamour in scandal
With its romantic balconies, hidden courtyards, and centuries-old charm, Cartagena is made for mystery, indulgence, and a little White Lotus-style drama.
South America blends old-world elegance with vibrant energy, making it a dream location for The White Lotus. It’s easy to picture guests strolling through cobblestone streets, indulging in decadent meals, and getting tangled up in affairs that are as intoxicating as the local rum. Cartagena, with its mix of romance, mystery, and sultry heat, would be the perfect setting for a slow-burning disaster.
Colombia – Casa Carolina, Cartagena
Cartagena is the kind of place where history and hedonism intertwine, where salsa music spills onto the streets, and where the intoxicating mix of colonial charm and Caribbean heat makes every encounter feel just a little more charged.
It’s easy to picture a White Lotus plot unfolding here—perhaps an art dealer getting tangled up in something they shouldn’t or a wealthy couple’s long-simmering tensions exploding over too many passionfruit mojitos.
Tucked inside Cartagena’s historic walled city, Casa Carolina is a colonial-era hideaway with just 15 suites, private pools, and candlelit courtyards that practically beg for whispered conversations and secret rendezvous.
Antarctica: The White Lotus season that would push wealth to its limits
If The White Lotus went to Antarctica, it would be all about extreme wealth, total isolation, and the ultimate luxury meltdown at the edge of the world.
If The White Lotus has taught us anything, it’s that wealth and isolation are a dangerous mix. Nowhere on Earth is more extreme than Antarctica—where the ice is endless, the silence is deafening, and the remoteness practically begs for psychological breakdowns.
White Desert’s Echo Camp
The idea of The White Lotus filming in Antarctica is so ridiculous it makes sense. If Tanya (RIP) had survived, this is where she’d go next—draped in designer expedition gear, convinced she was “roughing it” while sipping Krug champagne inside a heated space pod.
White Desert’s Echo Camp is an ultra-luxe, sci-fi-looking retreat set in the middle of Antarctica. The only way in? A private jet from Cape Town. The experience? Ice climbing, emperor penguin encounters, and gourmet meals prepared on a continent where nothing grows.
If The White Lotus ever set a season here, it would be the ultimate descent into madness—paranoia setting in as the endless white landscape blurs time and reality. And obviously, someone would “accidentally” fall into a crevasse.